Dr Nadia Ayed is a Research Associate at I-SPHERE (Institute for Social Policy, Housing and Equalities Research), Heriot-Watt University. Nadia is an interdiscplinary academic, with interests predominantly spanning psychology, critical psychiatry and sociology. She is a mixed-methods researcher whose work focuses on homelessness, housing precarity and social relationships. Nadia is based in South-West Scotland.

Nadia contributes to a range of research projects at I-SPHERE, including the evaluations of Upstream in both Scotland and England, a youth homelessness prevention model, our knowledge and capacity building programme focusing on homelessness and black and minoritised ethnic communities in the UK and Destitution in the UK.

Before joining I-SPHERE, Nadia worked at the Centre for Homelessness Impact, closely involved in the DLUHC funded Test and Learn programme, leading on two randomised control trials which aimed to establish the effectiveness of a supported employment model, Individual Placement and Support (IPS) and a volunteer support programme for people who have experienced homelessness and have recently moved into secure housing.

Nadia completed her PhD 2019-2022 at Queen Mary University of London. Her thesis explored experiences of homelessness, housing precarity and care provisioning through a social capital lens. The doctoral project sought to explore how best to conceptualise and measure social capital in the context of homelessness and identify affordances of social relationships within the context of such adversity. 

Nadia previously worked at the Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge, researching different family forms, namely gay, lesbian and heterosexual adoptive families. 

Nadia holds a MSc in Mental Health Research from King’s College London and a BA (Hons) in Psychology, Politics and Sociology at the University of Cambridge.

• Homelessness and housing precarity
• Social relationships and social capital
• Care provisioning
• Concepts and enactment of community 
• Social theory
• Mixed-methods research methodologies

Homelessness; housing precarity; social capital; social relationships; care